Live tennis commentary - Australian Open, day six

Claire Siracusa and Will Brodie

Get excited! Jeremy Chardy pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the tournament in defeating Juan Martin del Potro. Are there any more tumultuous results in the air on this fine Melbourne night? Photo: Reuters

5:00pm on 19 Jan 2013

Stay tuned above for live scores from the evening sesion. And return to theage.com.au throughout the night for the latest reports and analysis from the much-anticipated Federer/Tomic clash on centre court.

Live commentary resumes tomorrow at 11am

4:55pm on 19 Jan 2013

Serena Williams has never served faster. And she’s doing it by not trying to hit the cover off the ball.Williams had one serve clocked at 207km/h in her 6-1 6-3 third-round victory over Japan’s Ayumi Morita at the Australian Open on Saturday.It equalled her fastest-ever delivery which came two days ago in the previous round at Melbourne Park.The No.3 seed began the first grand slam tournament of the year as the short-priced favourite, a status confirmed after she dropped just six games in her opening three matches.Williams’ serve is just one of many aspects of her game she is happy with."I went for it, but I wasn’t going for it that hard," she said."Every time I go for it, to hit it really hard, it goes in the 190s."When I hit the 207, I was like ’OK, the first one wasn’t luck, maybe I can hit a 207’."So it was pretty cool."And she won’t be deliberately trying to go even faster in her fourth-round clash with Russian No.14 seed Maria Kirilenko."My job is to do the best I can," said Williams, who won the most recent of her five Australian Open titles in 2010."Maria is playing consistent tennis, especially the past 16, 18 months, she’s been so consistent."So my goal is just to be really focused against a player that’s doing so well."Williams is also happy that the ankle problem she picked up early in the tournament is improving slowly day by day.

4:49pm on 19 Jan 2013

While Rod Laver Arena lies empty, mostly in late afternoon shadows, being prepared for the Federer/Tomic blockbuster at 7pm, several matches of interest just getting underway.

American 19-year-old Sloane Stephens is taking on 18-year-old Englishwoman Laura Robson on Show Court Two.

On Hisense Arena, women's 10th seed Caroline Wozniacki has begun smashig it out wth Ukrainian no.85 Lesia Tsurenko, who made the semi-finals in brisbane as a lucky loser.

The Italian outlasted the higher-seeded Cilic, who boasted a 12-6 five-set record before today's fade-out. Both men had four break points in the final set - Seppi converted three, Cilic just one. In an even match, it all came down to that.

Less winners, less errors. It is often the recipe for success from the top players. Murray converted six of 13 break point opportunities, and Berankis three of 12. The top players are more powerful on the key points - it wins them so many of these earlier matches.

The French No. 36 has reached the last 16 at the Australian open for the first time, equalling his best grand slam result, by defeating the former US Open champion in five sets. He won the final three games, outlasting Del Potro, who now has a 4-6 record in five-setters. This was the day's longest match, at 3hours 45 minutes

Jeremy Chardy of France looks as if he knows the magnitude of what is about to happen against Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina. Photo: Getty Images

4:21pm on 19 Jan 2013

The day six crowd was a record 53,298, breaking the previous record of 52,272. Plenty more were due in for a much-anticipated night session. Photo: PETER PARKS

A powerful performance from the seeded Frenchman, but a predictable whitewash given Kavcic's heatwave nightmare five-setter in his previous match. Tsonga was never threatened, gaining breaks early in each set and winning 89 points overall to 54. He also won 21 of 27 points at the net. Such volleying prowess is a point of diference foir the big-serving right-hander amongst the top seeds, who all prefer baseline rallies.

4:14pm on 19 Jan 2013

Our latest Tomic poll. Like success-starved Australian tennis fans, we can't get enough of Bernard. (Or we have a feeling his bright run is about to come to a abrupt halt at the hands of Roger Federer.)

Jake Niall and I are trying to find today's longest match. Right now, it looks like it will go to the Del Potro/Chardy marathon on Hisense Arena, which is registering at three hours and thirty five minutes, with games on service in the decider.

Seppi/Cilic is hot on their heels at 3.28.

4:03pm on 19 Jan 2013

Andy Murray of Great Britain plays a forehand in his third round match against Ricardas Berankis. Photo: Cameron Spencer

Like Radek Stepanek against Novak Djokovic, qualifier Berankis is putting up a good fight but looks unlikely to win a set. he has won 66 points to 76, and 16 of 17 points at the net, but after forcing 10 break points, he has converted just two. Murray has broken berankis four times from eight opportunities, and it is why he holds a two-set lead despite a reasonably level point-by-point battle on centre court.

The Italian duly takes the fourth set, and another five-setter results. A great day's tennis is ensuing well before the much anticipated Federer-Tomic clash this evening. 182 minutes in, there is one winner, and one point overall between these two tireless baseliners.

The Argentinian star will have to endure a fifth set to make the fourth round. Chardy has hit 65 winners to 32, but won just two more points overall. For a player who has won only half of his tour matches, Chardy has a good five-set record, 5-2, compared to Del Portro's 4-5.